Halévy, Élie

Halévy, Élie ālē´ älāvē´ [key], 1870–1937, French historian, an authority on 19th-century England son of Ludovic Halévy. In The Growth of Philosophic Radicalism (3 vol., 1901–4 tr., new ed. 1949) Halévy made a major contribution to the intellectual history of utilitarianism. His masterpiece, a historical classic, is A History of the English People in the Nineteenth Century (6 vol., 1912–30 tr., 2d ed. 1949–52). Based on massive research, it describes and analyzes the development of ideas and institutions. Particularly notable is the first volume, England in 1815, a brilliant re-creation of social, political, economic, and religious conditions.